New Medical Schools Pair Students With Patients From the Start

By KATHERINE MANGAN

When Lawrence G. Smith was tapped to help create a new medical
school on Long Island, the last thing he wanted was a traditional
model in which students had to wait until their third year of
training to have any meaningful interaction with patients. Dr.
Smith, the chief medical officer of a 15-hospital health system,
instead favored approaches like sending first-year students out
with ambulance crews and encouraging future doctors to develop
long-term relationships with